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A federal agency is aiming to fix a rule that’s making it difficult for spouses without their own incomes to get a credit card. A regulatory tweak eyed by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau could make it easier for stay-at-home spouses to obtain credit cards in their own name as well as larger lines of credit. Many mothers, along with lawmakers who represent them, say the new standard is unfairly crimping the ability of stay-at-home spouses, retirees and other consumers to obtain credit cards. [Wall Street Journal]

Discover to Pay $200 Million to Cardholders Over U.S. Phone Marketing

Discover Bank will pay about $200 million to cardholders who bought certain credit-protection products over the phone, as part of an agreement with U.S. regulators. Discover will also pay an additional $14 million in penalties to be split between the regulators. The company said it will refund money to cardholders who bought the products by telephone from December 2007 to August 2011. [Reuters]

‘Free Checking’ Costs More

So-called free checking accounts are more expensive than ever. To avoid a monthly fee, bank customers in the U.S. must keep an average minimum balance of $723 in checking accounts that pay no interest–up 23% over last year. The average monthly fee on noninterest checking accounts rose 25% to $5.48, also a record. Banks have raised fees on automatic teller machines, overdrafts and checking accounts for customers who don’t meet new standards tied to account balances or regular deposits. Maintaining checking accounts cost most banks $250 to $300 a year, according to industry estimates. [Wall Street Journal]

CFPB Finds Differences in Credit Scores

The credit score you purchase from a credit reporting agency may be very different from the score your lender sees. Lender’s scoring models place nearly one in five consumers in different credit categories, according to a new report by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. This means consumers can’t exclusively rely on the credit score they purchase from credit agencies to be an accurate indicator of the interest rate on the credit card or other loan they will receive. The study found that the majority of consumers received credit scores that were similar across the different scoring models. The scoring models placed consumers in the same credit-quality category 73 to 80 percent of the time. However, scoring models placed consumers in a different category 19 to 24 percent of the time. This can mean a higher interest rate if the lender’s scoring model places you in a lower credit category. This can also impact your job search or application for an apartment because some employers, landlords, and even insurance agencies now use credit scores in their screening process. [LowCards.com]

Banks, merchants and technology companies have bet billions of dollars on technology for mobile payments, but those investments likely will take years to pay off. Even early-stage winners in the race to devise a new standard for mobile payments, such as Google, have barely made a dent in what is expected to be a giant market later this decade. The industry, which hasn’t settled on a single standard technology, was slapped with another setback this month when Apple released a new iPhone that doesn’t contain a computer chip that powers mobile payments. The move likely will delay the large-scale adoption of a closely watched technology called near-field communications, or NFC. [Wall Street Journal]

Restaurants Join Growing Opposition to Swipe Fee Settlement

Another major trade association has come out against the $7.25 billion settlement between some retailers and Visa and MasterCard over the interchange fees on credit cards. The National Restaurant Association announced that it is opposing this settlement because it fails to “fundamentally change a broken marketplace in which swipe fees are set” and prohibits merchants from filing subsequent lawsuits over the interchange fee. “There is concern that restaurateurs will continue to be negatively impacted by the unfair, non-transparent system that exists today,” said NRA President and Chief Executive Dawn Sweeney said in a statement. [LowCards.com]

Dodd-Frank’s Constitutionality Challenged by Three States

Three U.S. states have joined a lawsuit that challenges the constitutionality of the 2010 Dodd-Frank law that overhauled U.S. financial oversight and created the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. The attorneys general of Michigan, Oklahoma and South Carolina are challenging a portion of Dodd-Frank that empowers the Treasury secretary to order the liquidation of failing financial institutions, according to a complaint filed in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. It has since drawn criticism from Republicans and industry groups who say the new regulations go too far and could strangle businesses and restrict credit. [Reuters]

Cellphones are Eating the Family Budget

More than half of all U.S. cellphone owners carry a device like the iPhone, a shift that has unsettled household budgets across the country. Government data show people have spent more on phone bills over the past four years, even as they have dialed back on dining out, clothes and entertainment–cutbacks that have been keenly felt in the restaurant, apparel and film industries. Labor Department data released Tuesday show spending on phone services rose more than 4% last year, the fastest rate since 2005. During and after the recession, consumers cut back broadly on their spending. [Wall Street Journal]

LowCards.com Weekly Credit Card Rate Report

Based on the 1000+ cards in the LowCards.com Complete Credit Card Index, the average advertised APR for credit cards is 14.32 percent, identical to last week. Six months ago, the average was 14.30 percent. One year ago, the average was 14.28 percent. [LowCards.com]

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